Done deal and a relief: Reo-Coker on his way to Villa Park

he better be worth all this hassle and all this money. a striker and right back must be next on the list. kevin doyle anyone? not world class..yet! i think he would be a great signing we have been linked with him before.

I don't think SWP would be useful, sure he was good at Man City but he doesn't look keen to play anymore, would be better off signing a youngster hungry for football at half his price.

do do do nigel reo coker

"to the tune off do do do lets all do the conga"

He can't shoot or pass, other than that he''s great ;D

That is some relief. Reo-Coker will be great for us!

NEXT: -

Drente or Wright-Phillips for winger.

Defoe, Nugent or Bellamy for striker.

Carson or Gordon for Goalie.

We need right back but not sure who.

Just out of interst ... how many of the villa players do you think would get into ours ??? I really think he has taken a massive step backwards .... & his agent ... who doesn't appear to be the sharpest tool in the box has done him a massive dis-service. He wanted a top 4 club to leave, but I don't think villa are or will be for a very long time ...

Oh yeah, and he gives away too many free kicks and bookings

A centre-back and goalkeeper are a must, as well as a top quality centre midfielder.

Reo-Coker and Petrov are decent, but not good enough to get us in the top 4 between them.

villa have announced that the transfer is subject to a medical and personal terms.

you guys are so welcome to him ... what a great result for west ham ... he was a great player for us ... but when the going got tough threw a hissy fit both on & off the pitch.

finally!
you can put reo-coker on the in section now.

Kevin Doyle..good player i guess.... but we already hav good players we should b going 4 great players

Chadmonkey, go away and stop winding us up. You only just escaped relegation by cheating and most of our players would stroll into your team.

The fee is 8.5 million

as a west ham fan, I hope he passes the mediacal. He had everything at west ham & was captain. He said he would only leave for a top 4 club . It will be a decision he regrets for the rest of his life !!!

This isn't sour grapes, but he really isnt worth £8.5m! I wish him all the best at Villa, as well as a great future for Villa, but Reo-Coker is nowhere near as good as all the press have hyped him up to be. You will see in time.

Good luck villa,you will be needing it.
coker aint that bad but as above,cant shoot,cant pass and can give a free kick away.and theres his attitude to contend with.
yes he will run his socks off for you a guaranteed goal against us but that may be the only one for months.
keep it real about the top 4
whutilidie

Thank goodness for that. Fingers crossed that he passes his medical and agrees personal terms. I say that as a WEST HAM season ticket holder. You are about to pay £8.5m for an average player with a terrible first touch, a poor attitude, no final ball, no goalscoring prowess and an ego the size of Villa Park. He (along with Anton Ferdinand) was one of the reasons Ashley Young would not join us. He was quoted as saying "I am black, but not THAT black". We have definitely got the best of this deal. £7m for Scott Parker and receiving £8.5m for Reo-Choker.
I mean Villa no malice by this post. Just to warn you that you will be very disappointed I am afraid

sheffield united 4 premierleague!!!

I think NRC is a great player and you guys have got a great midfielder now. O'Neill will shape him up into a great player.

Just his time with us came to a natural end but he led us quie well over the 3 years he was there.

due respect chadmonkey but a move to villa from west ham isn't a step down. on the contrary if you look at most recent history its a step up. if you want to look at the last ten years its also a step up. if you want to take a look at the last 20 years its a step up and if you want to look since inception, its a step up.

my point is. lets just look at 'now'. it's a step up

but please. lets not try and wind each other up or i'll just have to lock comments

Unlucky Villa fans. I have a soft spot for your team as I know an ex player of yours, a midfielder in fact who was twice the player Reo Coker will ever be. I am sorry to say you have made a mistake in buying this over-rated, self loving, press believing fool, who when the going gets tough will turn his back on you and decide that the fans, the club and the manager are 'ganging' up on him for no reason; when in fact poor performances, a lack of interest towards being a part of the team and trying to prove that he is bigger than the club, where the main reasons for this young player, who once was a possible world class English center midfielder and leader, is now in free fall as he has started to read and believe that he is a 'quality' player that led an under-dog to an FA Cup Final.

Sorry and good luck in handling this temperamental young man who has suffered from his ego becoming too big for his broad shoulders.

west ham are losin it big time now, reo-coker on is way tevez about to follow, to be honest tevez is to good for another long season and another relegation battle, villa to finish 6th or above this year without a doubt, m/o/n claret and blue army.... come on

while quite a few comments from west ham fans could be viewed as sour grapes we also shouldn't dismiss that there are a lot sasying the same thing and that he's not the player we may all think ...

i for one am reserving judgement. yes, he's a decent player but if i'm honest, not really what i was expecting with these significant funds ....

i do hope the west ham fans are wrong but we'll just have to wait and see

OK I was merely pointing out that he said he would only go to a top 4 club ... I am very surprised he has gone to Villa ... no dis-respect. This time last year after finishing 9th & a great cup final, Villa escaped the drop by one place. I can honestly see both of our clubs finishing top 6 and on the other hand could also see both of our clubs finishing bottom 6. ... Not really what reo-choker said he wanted.

not being funny but how is reo-coker any better than steven davis who you are letting go for half the price?
with the amount of money that you now have should you not be looking at a better quality player [edited]

YOU HAVE BEEN MUGGED RIGHT OFF

RNC....he is a good player when the team is playing well but if your playing well he go,s missing we found thaty out big time but good luck anyway

please please can you sign carlton cole as well ... maybe if we bum him up a bit in the press o'neill will fall for that as well.

funny chadmonkey ... but we've had our time with carthorse cole and he wont be coming back

but your point is made. although you wont find many that agree with it here ;)

:)fank god 4 that atlast we got our man and thank god davis is going hes a waste of space n es shit. reo coker will be a great sighning and i hope we get wright phillips now aswell.

we also hope your blue friends down the road take konchesky

Reo-Coker was Capatain of West Ham, he took them to the FA Cup Final. He is quality, O'Neill will make him even better!!!!

He is exactly what Villa need, he has bags of energy!!!!

UP THE VILLA..... This is just the start.... C'MON!!!!!!!!

has reo coker signed now or does he need to have his medical he is a great signing far better than davis

technically, only a fee is agreed. but you have to assume that the club have done most of the owrk so far so its formalities to follow; medical and contract

Ya know, Reo-coker still gets so much stick from west ham fans. They seem to think that when they were playing bad, he wasnt the only player in there team.

They also seem to forget, that he was one of the only players curbishley kept faith with, and im sure he repayed that faith by helping you stay in the premier league. If you all believe it was down to tevez, you cockneys need to open up your eyes and watch more than one player.

Reo-Coker is a great player with a great future ahead of him. He done the country proud also at the u21 tournament.

I say its about time we got him, and i would of been prepared to pay the 10mil they reportedly wanted him for!

don't be surprised if the spuds hijack the deal ... they are good at that ...

He clearly must be a good player because why would so many WHU fans be on this site. They are all gutted...
First of many I hope!!!

Chadmonkey. in reply to your how many villa players would make step into west hams team? Well you a defence who cant defend basically - Anton Ferdinand lives on his brothers reputation. You have a Argentinan foward who is great but most likely wont still be at west ham next year. We will see who would get in your team when we finish above you again this year. Should clear back of to the championship were you belong!

Villa till i die!

Manage him right and RC will be worth the money. He's good and will get better. My fellow WHUFC fans are bitter about him for all kinds of things but IMO they all stem from Pardew making a boy the team captain and him not being able to cope with the other bad apples letting him down - I count the lads manager in this barrel aswell - a real nasty. I can see us in a couple of years time saying we let another good one through our fingers.

i am glad this saga is over. as a west ham fan i really hope he fails at villa, no malice intended to you villans! ill just add a few points about him that will give you an indication of the player your getting. firstly, when reo-coker plays well, he does make a difference. he runs with the ball very well, surging through midfield. however, he gets caught in possession often, and even when he doesnt, his passing is usually poor at best. he is one of the poorest 'captains' we have ever had, but that wont be a problem for you because i doubt he will be your captain. he is good when times are good, but when times are bad he doesnt want to know. this season he threw his toys out the pram because the fans got on his back, making up pathetic excuses to engineer a move this summer.

and finally... just watch his goal celebration against man united. just bear in mind he is our 'captain', fair enough he had a bit of stick, maybe more than he deserved. but a captain should never conduct himself like this. and he thinks that that goal repayed for the lacklustre perfomances beforehand since we supposedly turned down moves to man u and arsenal. a pathetic, egotistical prick who only thinks of himself. what will happen if arsenal come in for him in a couple of years? honestly, this man is not worth the quoted 8.5 million, although as you say he is young and can improve.

not a bad player, mind....

granted ... the defence at the start of the year was crap ... but so was the midfield... (with choker) when we got sorted we kpt clean sheets home & away at arsenal & man u ... the only team for decades to do so.

All the hammers fans on hear seem so relieved to get rid of their captain!!
You really aint got a clue.
Have a good relegation scrap next season.
I KNOW IT HURTS LOSING YOUR CAPTAIN BUT DONT GET SO BITTER!!

Great news for fans and club Reo Coker will bring a lot of strenght to midfeild just the sort of player we need someone who hunts that ball down for the full 90mins he never stops running.Im sure there will be plaenty more to come from now on defoe i dont think we will get wright-phillips maybe but who ever martin signs next im sure will be good for the club.Great work on this site by the way keep it up thnx.

It's a reflief to see villa active in the market as they've let so many players go but i dont know how i feel about NRC.
I have only seen him in bits and looks a decent player but like alot of other people have suggested, how much of a better player is he than the dead wood? he played well by all accounts for the u21's but then Davis has played superb for the full Northern Ireland team for the past year.
Will NRC really help us to the next level? fingers crossed!
It looks like we might be battling it out with the hammers for SWP next.
Like to see Bellamy or Defoe, SWP, a good keeper, a great centre back and right back. UTV

OK fair point ... but why should you have to 'manage' a player right. It proves you have bought a very moody tempremental player. you have also bought a guy that didn't want to sign for you ... he said so many times he would have prefered to play for Spurs, Arsenal, Man U or Liverpool.

nearly a full team then VILLA82

Well the top four clubs did'nt want him obviously.
But then he did'nt want to play for your club anymore either.
We were the best choice.

firstly, reo-coker and captain shouldnt be used in the same sentence again.

secondly, we are not on here through bitterness, but for the fact this article comes up through newsnow.

and yes we are bitter about losing a terrible captain after gaining in parker, neill, boa morte, and upson, 4 (yes 4!) former club captains.

ok us irons may be a little bitter at reo-coker, but honestly, most are just happy to see the back of him.

as for 'hunting the ball down' and 'never stops running' im not sure. some games pass him by, and our midfield lost many games last season.

as for our defence, did you see how many injuries we had in defence last season? if you did, you really would realise why such terrible displays happened.

Reo Coker plus points

Has a fantastic engine and will run up and down all day.
Will make a lot of eyecatching, lungbusting runs that look good on a highlights segment.
Not frightened to put his foot in.
Rarely injured.

Reo Coker negative points

VERY poor passer.
Suffers from 'cow's arse/banjo' syndrome.
Bit of a headless chicken.
Loses his rag easily, and gives away needless free kicks in dangerous areas.
Picks up too many cards.
No matter how badly he plays for you, he will think he is too good for you.

If you sign him, after the first few games you'll think you've got a bargain. Then when you actually analyse his end product you'll start to see why, at a guess, 95% of hammers will not be too sorry to see the back of him.

Good luck in the coming season.

Good luck to Villa with Okey-Coker. He is a class player; strong going forward, competetive and a good shot. He is also young and so one for the future. For me the final straw came with his 'ear-cupping' at the Bobby Moore stand...he had reached the end of the line with The Irons. Still, everyone makes mistakes and look at how Beckham was rehabillitated after his infamous sending off, so you shouldn't worry. We will forgive in time (the usual figure is about 40 years I think, although this has been extended for Paul Ince and Jermaine Defoe).

The reason why most hammers fans don't want him is because he didn't want to play for us after we turned down a transfer request for arsenal. from that day on he just didn't care. Once the top 4 saw the way he played last year & the way he behaved ... none of them would touch him with a barge pole. He couldn't stay at west ham cos he had burnt his bridges so to speak. Don't get me wrong, he is a decent enough player & was great for us 2 seasons ago.

ill be honest here mate. I wanted west ham to stay up - simply because theres better banter between the two clubs and sheff utd are just boring.

But like i said. Maybe reo-coker is crap, but if that is the case answer this for me. Why was he one of a few small number of players that wasnt dropped at some point under curbishley? And why did curbishley openly state a few weeks back that he would make a last ditch attempt to keep him at the club?

oh and avstu,

i think your comments regarding 'finishing above us again', and us going down to the championship 'where we belong' are a bit out of order. us west ham fans have come here in peace to give you our perspective, and you say things like that.

as it goes, if you are really certain that you will finish above us then you are either mystic meg or retarded. granted we had a bad season last season but to be honest you werent exactly the creme de la creme were you??? where did you finish??
on top of that, we have more to offer in order to attract better players.
the bright lights of london, and we will soon be playing in a 60000 seater stadium.
im not saying you wont finish above us, but rather than just being mindlessly opposing, show a bit of prudence.

If MON rates him, thats good enough for me. Who on earth would taker loser Curbishley's opinion over MON's? No-one.

As for which Villa players would get into West Hams Team?

Sorenson, Mellberg, Laursen, Bouma, Barry, Young, Petrov, REO-COKER, Maloney, Gardner, Carew, Gabby, Moore, Gardner. Is that enough or shall I go through the reserves too?

Hammerforlife - I never ment anything towards all West Ham fans. I was just snapping back at the one fan who was slating our club. Just like you have just done the same. We all defend our own club - can you disagree with that?

I know both clubs have been underachieveing for a long time now. But this new stadium you talk about? Its just talk at the moment.

I give west ham credit as when i came to upton park on a monday night before, i was amazed to see just how much you guys sang - and i give you credit for that.

But some opinions on Reo-Coker are very harsh - he just gets highlighted by many of your fans. A team is made out of 11 players - not Reo-Coker!

Ha ha nice one villa ! you can have dailly as well for 10 million if you like and quashie for 18 million !! what a bunch of mugs.

I am a hammer fan, and you are my fav midland club well you must be you play in the same colours as us , but NRC is really not worth 8.5 mill. He is ok when you are playing well but go,s missing when the team is not, when we really needed him last season he was no where to be found and thats when you need your captin, your G. BARRY is twice the player he we ever be but good luck hope you finish 2sd in the league next year.

Glad we finally signed him. Well bolster our Midfield and i expect him to improve under MON. I think the deal took so long as we werent prepared to get ripped off. WHU wanted to hold out for £10M which is alot too much for him. I still think £8.5M is abit over but it requires money. He has almost signed and i will be very happy.

I dont think he is rubbish. He may not have had the best season last season but then again who other than Tevez did for WHU? He is odviously good else Arsenal wouldnt have wanted him. A player cant just go from being a great young prospect to someone who is totally rubbish.

He does have abit of an attitude problem but if MON can get it in check we have got ourselves a great young player.

Up the Villa

imo i think nrc deal was done in principle before euro champs which is why he had a good tournament,respect to the hammers fans as they have watched him week in week out so know what he has been like, i have only watched him a couple of times on match of the day and he looked quality,
the hammers are like us in many respects,new owner new money ,but do truly world class players want to sign for either of us? truth is no, no euro football no world class players

lets make the best of what else is out there

good luck hammers next season as im sure you wish us

It seems like most of you west ham fans agree that Reo-Coker is a decent player. His form for you may have been below par last season due to problems within the club and his attitude towards the end of his time at Upton Park may not have been to your liking but that really doesn't concern us. What I mean to say is that Reo-Coker wont have the same problems at Villa Park. The fans will be behind him 100% so there will be no clash and his committment to the club will not be in question. He's already gone on the record as saying Villa would be his preferred choice so he definitely wants to play for us unlike at west ham last season. I really find it hard to understand why all of you hammers are so bitter towards him. He made some very important contributions to your club last season- have you all forgotten his winning goal against Man Utd. Also you comment that he works tirelessly and runs all over the pitch yet his commitment and passion isn't there- sounds like a bit of a contradiction to me.
Sorry if it sounds like I'm having a go at you lot, I'm not, all I'm saying is that Reo-Coker is a far better player than you give him credit for and I will be personally delighted to see him playing in the claret and blue of Aston Villa next season.

avstu:

i cant disagree with you defending your club, but i must say i have not 'snapped' at aston villa.
as we are supporters of opposing teams i feel we will never agree, only agree to disagree.
no hard feelings mate.
as for the 'why wasnt he dropped?' question, it was for the simple fact that the likes of quashie, mullins, are crap, and the fact that mascherano had a contract dodgier than a nine bob note. some argue that he should have been dropped for noble.

as for the stadium. it is in preliminary stages but this was something eggy was going to do since he took over, and this WILL happen.

reo cokers criticisms may be a tad harsh because he basically mugged us off good and proper. but make no mistake that reo coker was ONE of the reasons for our fall from grace.

you villa fans should be worried that were glad to see the back of our captain.

CRAIG BELLAMY next :P i hope so anyway he is very very quick no one could handle the pace of young gabby and bellamy :P

Glad to have Nigel on board but what has happened to the Wesley Sneijder talk. He would be an excellent player to have in midfield. Royston Drenthe would be pretty exciting too.

I don't think it's any coincidence that a day after west ham were cleared of any wrong-doing and the penalty up held that we are starting to get rid of all of the championship players. We are planning ahead getting rid of the dead wood. Teddy has gone today, along with Mears, Carroll the drunk & Pantsil. Icing on the Cake to get rid of the most over-rated player in english football ever, nigel reo maoner.

Barry has to stay as captian tho Reo-Coker vice captian :P

bring on the Sat 6th October, when hopefully reo-coker will show the hammers how good he really is and stick the ball in the back of the net at the holte end!
First signing of at least 4 i think, hopefully another signing early next week!
Undecided who eles i'd like but looks like Bellamy is surplus to requirements and he used to play for blackburn, newcastle, cov, norwich, god he's had more clubs than i've had hot dinnas... Defoe said he wants to stop at Spurs? (maybe to show loyalty to Spurs fans and to show he thinks hes not concerned about Bent?)

If MON played him in a holding role, he would probably be O.K, but Reo Coker wouldn't be happy with that. He sees himself as a marauding, box to box, Gerrard-type.
He has all of the physical attributes needed, but the lad can't even make a simple 5 yard pass successfully. His distribution is absolutely terrible. It's frustrating to see him make a good run, when you just know that nothing will come of it (95% of the time).
We thought he might come good, but at 23, most players have learnt how to pass the ball.
If you think that we hammers have come here because we are bitter at losing him, I'm afraid you are seriously mistaken. As I said earlier, give it a few games and you will start to see why we got frustrated with him - no end product.

i get confused with this all the time ... why are fans of other clubs adding bitter comments about our club and players????

find it very odd people would want to to be honest :-S

all you west ham cockney fans come on to our site and say reo cocker is rubbish. If he was rubbish then you wouldn't waist your time commenting about him then would you. But obviously you want to blow one last bubble for him because he is coming to a better club with a brighter future. Reo cocker for villa and to wear the number seven shirt. Cummon you villa boys and westham fans looks like your dreams of keeping reo cocker has faded and died just like your crappy bubbles song.

come on for once he has signed is NRC having his medical now and when his he going to sign

YES YES YES! FINALLY REO-COKER IS COMING
AND YH THIS IS A ASTON VILLA SITE NOT A WEST HAM ONE SO WEST HAM FANS GET OFF AND GET YOUR OWN BLOG!

do do do nigel reo coker do do do :)

At the end of the day mon will bring out the best in reo coker and we will end up with a bargain.
Unfortunately for you hammers all i can see for your manager is the sack after 6 weeks of the new season and you calling for your egghead retard chairman to quit.

Why don't you just have a link to the bbc website instead of making out you found out this news?

Hammers fans, DO ONE. If I were you, I`d worry more about the state of your team rather than be concerned with whats happening at Villa Park!

at neon
we say in the article we found out via the west ham site ..

chris kane holte:

no we wouldnt 'waist' our time. we wouldnt 'waste' our time either. i also think we have every right to comment on a player who you are discussing who is still registered as ours thankyou very much.
also, this comes up on newsnow, so naturally e will read it.

a better club with a brighter future?? now that is debatable. we have the same if not more disposable income, probably a better squad player for player (dispute if you will, but really i think we have, im not being patronising). we even have arguably the best current player in the world playing for us in tevez. who have you got?
if we went through are team and squad, we would definitely come out on top man for man. in fact, i can think of maybe one or two players i would want from villa (agbonlahor and young) and thats stretching it.

you saying that bubbles is crappy is very insulting, and i think if anything you are envious that we have a proper song, one which i would have thought a club like villa could relate to.

you calling reo-coker 'reo-cocker' is quite apt aswell!!!
also we havent exactly been dreaming of keeping him, those would be nightmares.

sammo, magnusson looks as though he is the best thing that could have happened for west ham, considering he succeeded brown as chairman. in fact, i wouldnt rather have anyone else in charge than him. he has passion, money, integrity, he works hard, and he understands us fans. long live eggert.
he is probably the best chairman in the league.
you say he is a retard (he isnt), but at least he aint a yank. i heard your changing your name to the beeermingHAM wildcats!

to villakid: im sure the moderator of this site agrees with my sentiment that if you are discussing a player of another club, then they should be able to say their bit, provided it is civil, which most of it has been. most of the abuse on this page has been directed at west ham fans from villa fans.

I liken Reo coker's move to the one Paul Ince made to Man U. Ince got slated the same way, yet went on to be a better and more successful player! Like i've said before, he wouldn't be WHU and England u21 captain at the age of 21 if he was as bad as WHU fans are saying he is. The truth of the matter is, their loss is indeed our gain and I think deep down they know it! ;D

I just saw the dvd given to season holders, I used to live in erdington 15yrs ago and my old man used to sell his caricature drawings to the souvenir shop and I remember them letting us have a kickabout on the ground and then i bought mcanally's used training top , my dad lived in aston until he met my mum and I am so excited for our future I would just love to see villa win the league with my old man. I think nigel's the first of this transfer window's signings and is a real positive, there is ages to go and I think we are going to get some really surprising quality players, but the main is that we have dropped so many of the ok players that remind me of when we had alpay yikes. The best signing we still have is o' neill, it's still early days but he has already given us a new dynamic and a bit of bite, sorry to ramble but I feel really positive and I know it's frustrating waiting, but it's all good fun really! Come on you Villans!
ps is mellberg really a 1980s action man with beard?

is nrc having his medical now can someone please tell me

Hammer4life

Our chairman and manager coduct themselves in a quiet, professional manner. Very soon, you and the rest of the footballing world will see the benefits of that.

Your owner, on the other hand, is a publicity loving comical man. The way you have conducted yourselves is a disgrace. You have signed ineligible players on dodgy contracts and cheated your way to safety. You have bumped up prices for everyone by your idiotic transfer dealings. You have wasted countless millions on average players in your pursuit to buy success. Tradition you may have, but unfortunately it is a history of losing gracefully. Now you lose disgracefully. It has become clear to the rest of football that you are a farce, and have rapidly overtaken Man U and Chelsea as THE most hated club around.

Villa fans

I urge you to ignore these people and focus on us. We know the truth about Randy and Martin. Proud History - Bright Future.

Just read this whole thread, Hammer4life took up most of it trying to convince himself that he aint bitter!!! LMFAO...... ;D ;D
Well chuffed that he has finally signed, it was done deal before he went to U21 champ....
I somehow dont believe that MON would really go into next season with out a few more big signings.....I still think that he should have given Davis a chance, but will have to trust his judgement.
I am just buzzing at the thought of next season I am bursting to see the new kit, I have belief in Randy, The General, Richard and Martin to put us back where we belong.....challenging for the Premiership....

Havent been this up for the new season since the 2-93 season under Big Ron!!! ;D

New season...New Villa.....Come on!!!!

gr8 signing he will blossom under MON.

as for him not been worth the money we cant all get our players on dodgy terms no player is worth the money clubs have to pay for them but were just livivng in that sort of day and age where we have no choice.

he is another gr8 young englishmen we will have at our club which is fantastic to see

COME ON VILLA!

Hmmm i have just been on the hammers blog site and from what i read most of em are gutted hahaha Very good signing M-O-N claret and blue army westham fans enjoy loseing tevez and enjoy ur scrap for relegation and enjoy ur search for a new manager after 2-3months birmingham city west ham derby to go down

SWP just needs to be back playing week in week out, you see Ian Wright banging on about his kid, I reckon the new line up with him in there would be awesome....

(GK)Jussi/Sorenson
(RB)Unknown yet,(CD)Mellberg,(CD)Laarson,(LB)Bouma
(RM)SWP,(CM)Nigel, (CM)Petrov(Schneider maybe??),(LM)Ashley
Carew Defoe (but think Gabby can manage)

I would like to see how Cahill and Ridgewell react this year before committing to a new central defender. We were not the same without Laarson last season.

But a am stumped over the right back position, any thoughts??

SWP just needs to be back playing week in week out, you see Ian Wright banging on about his kid, I reckon the new line up with him in there would be awesome....

(GK)Jussi/Sorenson
(RB)Unknown yet,(CD)Mellberg,(CD)Laarson,(LB)Bouma
(RM)SWP,(CM)Nigel, (CM)Petrov(Schneider maybe??),(LM)Ashley
Carew Defoe (but think Gabby can manage)

I would like to see how Cahill and Ridgewell react this year before committing to a new central defender. We were not the same without Laarson last season.

But i am stumped over the right back position, any thoughts??

Well just got back in from work, saw we have agreed the fee. I think he will turn out to be a good purchase, if MON thinks hes worth 8.5 mill thats good enough for me.... And to the west ham fans on here, at the end of the day your just bitter it does'nt really matter who you buy or make bids for, you have a terrible manager and its going to be a long hard season for you. (Best sack him now really.. Ha)

Is anyone else not interested in SWP signing for us? We have Ashley Young for the right wing role and I reckon he's gonna have a big season for us. Plus Gabby can cover him there if needed.

Once Reo Coker signs I think O'Neill has his midfield sorted with Barry, Petrov, NRC & Young.

Another name I'm throwing out there for striker is Javier Saviola. We were linked to him when O'Neill arrived at the Villa, so I'm wondering if there is anything there. He's a free agent now and if he could be convinced he would be a major coup. What do you guys think?

I repeat: Hammers fans worry about your club, Reo-Coker played out of his skin until your clever board decided to turn West Ham into a circus by signing in rather dodgy fashion the 2 amigos. That destroyed the team spirit and as a result you ended up buying your way into the Premiership. For God's sake, you didn`t even manage to find a place in the team for Mascherano, ask yourself what your current managerial set-up understands football-wise! As for conducting yourself in a dignified manner, having seen the flamboyant Egg-boy in the stands pulling all sorts of Mencap-sponsored expressions watching your disastrous team last season, I wouldn`t be that sure this man's going to run your club with dignity. Blow me instead of bubbles, your captain is at the Villa now! ;)

nick higginson, get your facts straight.

magnusson didnt sign tevez, terrence brown did.

also, tevez was never ineligible, get that in your head. READ the facts before you say such things. dodgy contract i give you, thats why were fined 5 and a half million. simple.

we cheated our way to safety did we?, no we won 7 out of 9 games, including wins against arsenal and man u. it was an inspired run of form.

idiotic transfer dealings eh? ashley young for near enough 10 million. hypocrite. and what idiotic transfer dealings anyway??? oh i see you see the daily star as gospel dont you. magnusson has said there is a wage cap of 55,000 a week at west ham, journalists like to spice things up by lying.
but please by all means give examples of our idiotic dealings. no really please.
what of chelsea, liverpool, and man utd's transfer dealings, add to that tottenham aswell?
we have a history of losing gracefully have we? and you have such an esteemed history of winning do you?
i can tell you one thing, aston villa have an outside reputation of being the most boring club in the premiership and every ounce of that is true. how many games of yours end in bore draws for christs sake?


proud history eh? you havent really won much since the ice age have you, just like us. your future in my eyes is as bright as a 10 watt bulb that has just been stamped on by an obese birmingham lass.

i come on here to simply give you an opinion an a WEST HAM player who you may be buying, i was innoffensive, and then this stuff is said.

and what have i said about o' neill and randy lerner???

bloody hell mate i think you need to take of your villa shades and just calm down a bit.

i've not really knocked your club one bit in my posts, yet you feel you ccan knock my club just because i am not a villa fan? isnt this the public domain? arent a balance of views good for discussion sites.

you sir, are just a hypocritical keyboard warrior my friend.

You hammers lot are a bitter bunch, just be happy you have 8 million of Randys reddies.
It's great to see we have signed another young english player, unlike the so called top 4 English clubs, more like 4 foreign clubs playing in a English league. Lets just hope we can add Nugent or Defoe upfront (Oh look! more English players). At the rate were signing up young English blood, maybe in 2 or 3 years half the the England squad will be Villa players.

It's been a frustrating few weeks but hopefully it's been worth the wait. Good luck to Reo Coker with his Villa future, lets hope he feels right wearing the true & only claret & blue colours.

i think reo coker is a great signing now we need a right back another centre back, a winger and a striker

id go for jaskalinan/carson
swp
defoe/bellamy
phillipe lahm

if we get sneijder our midfield aswell a swp i think we could challege the top 4

So does this mean i've won a St Martin T-Shirt?
4th July is what I guessed in the 'Sweepstake: It's all about to happen at Villa Park!' article

Drenthe Would be perfect rb/rm

Nigel Reo-Coker 85 Fouls Lost
Nigel Reo-Coker 67 Fouls Won
Nigel Reo-Coker 1,008 78.0%

Nigel Reo-Coker 1,008 78.0%

grrr stats not sending propley anyway the stats iv red about reo coker are very good he was top for most things in west hams play last season so for 8million i think he is a great signing

Nigel Shola Andre Reo-Coker the full name :D

drenthe joined blackburn yesterday #1Villian :(

No he didn't Dont know where u heard that they signed Rigters

Benni McCarthy anyone? we tried for him once before!

#1Villian ur right my mistake sorry iv been getting them 2mixed up for the few weeks now lol

kernowvilla good idea on Benni McCarthy but i think if anyone gets him it will be manchester united or Chelsea time to get rid of chris sutton aswell i cant see how he will fit in this comming season

Meestercoe, in your team u seemed to have dropped our captain and star player, gareth barry. what u playin at lad. keep your feet on the ground >:(

West ham are a shocking team!! They think they can make quality signings like Darren Bent, but then the same thing happens... THEY ALWAYS REJECT YOU, because you're a wanna be premiership team. Tevez looks a googd player at west ham, but everyone does at a team that poor, you're manager is a shambles, his biggest club was charlton, and you're owned by a guy who looks like he is about to die.Villa may have drew a lot of games LAST SEASON, but at least we didn't LOSE even more games so take that you worthless pile of a team. Villa 1 hammers 0. The question is how many will you lose next season 19 or 20 games. So jog on hammers fans and dig the grave for your owner because that is what you're ground should be a graveyard. Say goodbye to you're best player. You're sincerly Alan Pardew

All i can say is Ashley young rejected west ham the poor united to come to Aston Villa, even though you were offering more money to him, that just shows how much he doesn't want to go back to the championship with you and curbishley. And don't deny you did't want him.

do do do nigel reo coker ....MON isnt a MUG he knows what he is talking about... your west ham played the worst football in the premiership they were dyer when i saw em play at the villa, thank GOD NRC can actually go to a club thats going somewhere. COME ON THE VILLA
MARLON HAREWOOD PRETTY MUCH SUMS UP UR TEAM ...DONKEYS...

LMFAO to the last comment :D:D:D:d

taglor's article was really nice to read and i sincerely hope you get to see good times at the Villa with your old man real soon. god bless you both.

Another article suggested that we now have a good proportion of the England U21 squad which is no bad thing.
Reo Coker looks to be the box to box player that we need in the style of Boateng/Ian Taylor if given the right management. Good signing ? Lot of dough but I hope so.
Don't want to get into the Hammers and Nose arguements on the site but things are looking up for Villa whichever way you look...the nike thing, new sponsorship, keeping our best players, best management possible, loads of dough to spend..etc
I still reckon the massive press conference is likely with the above in mind. Plus half a dozen Internationals !!!
I like the idea of a crowd pulling striker of international recognition partnering Carew to scare the shit out of the opposite defence. Then with half hour to go, you let Gabby loose to replace either one!

UP THE VILLA......C'MON !!

West ham vrs villa next season at upton park reo coker to score the winning goal in the 91st minute just to rub it in a little lol

remember lads this is only a kid with massive potential.. mark my words MON is wise and building a long term future for this club and we deserve to be up with the best of them... Watch this space MON is the next alex!!!!

hang my head in shame just lost to west ham (of all teams) 3-0

on fifa 07 xbox 360 live with nrc scoring twice :(

Yes i belive aswell that there will be a big press conference involving reo coker and maybe one or 2 more signings if not no need to worrie as there is still a while b4 the season starts and martin did promise fans more new faces would be added b4 the start of the season :) We are now going places watch out the big boy teams M.O.N and his boys are comming for you

I've just read on football-rumours.com that we're close to signing Wesley S. Rumour was posted by someone calling himself "The General"

would be great if we was andy i really hope so he is a quality player super at freekicks

Martin O Neill_New villa said:

LMFAO to the last comment :d

what does that mean in newy speak?

lmfao means laugh my fuckin ass off :P

LMFAO in a good way cos' you're excited by the prospects in my post or LMFAO cos' you're being sarky or pessimistic ? !! I can't tell..only my first few posts...please advise. I'm only trying to be look forward to the bright future.

2.43am Just read something that may be of interest to start a new thread. I know nothing at all about the kid...just read the rumour and thought that you all needed to see it.

Source: Football-rumours.com
My source at Villa who works in accounting says a big 9.5m mill move for utaka will be done by the end of the week also a bid for swp ihas been accepted

Source: Nigerianplayerscom
A very elegant player, Utaka is at his best playing just behind the the top striker, but can play in all attacking positions. Has mostly been used as a right sided midfielder for the national team. Is at times a little too selfish, but has great vision and dribbling skills, and is one of the finest talents to come out of Nigeria in recent years.

Sounds like it's worth a gossip doesn't it? SWP as well ! Bring it on...

UP THE VILLA

Ooooh! Is this what MON meant when he said we may laugh if he mentioned some of his targets? Bring it on. Liverpool beware, maybe worth an ante-post bet for the first game.

football-rumours tells a story in itself. enough said really

who is utaka never heard of him swp will be good but id love wesley sneijder to come he is a great player

O'Neill quoted saying NRC will be an excellent player for Villa! =)

LINK

As much as i think Utakas a qaulity player, i think he is going to end up at Pompey with Kanu, just read a few rumours elsewhere..

I hope we get nakumura, he would be a good signing for us, as for the Wes Sniedjer talks i would just let that one lie guys, i cant see him coming to us, he is going to be a huuuuge future talent and i think we will be outbid, out offered and generally left in the dark on this one. :( Lets just try and be optimistic :)

i think utaka is going to pompey although i have never heard of him would love to have wesley sneijder but i think he wants to play champions league football and at the moment we cant offer that. SWP will be good for us but where we going to play gabby and ashley young

You shouldnt be worried about where young and Gabby are going to play. It is a good thing that they may stuggle for a place in the side. I am pretty sure SWP will sign and that will leave room for 1 of young/gabby/moore to start and that is if we dont make another attacking signing which could happen. We need to be in a position where we have these players on the bench, but MON still has to keep them happy. These players certainly wouldnt start regularly for the top 4 and that is what we r striving for in the next few years.

I was reading on another site that Reo-Coker could still go to Tottenham as this is his prefered choice. Spurs are expected to hijack our offer. Do we honestly want a player with such bad press who doesn't even want to play for Villa.

is he having a medical today ?? After all charlton agreed a deal with west ham for Darren Bent, but that didn't happen.

reo-coker the west ham club captain joining us and now tevez joining united when copa america finishes ... hmm not a great couple of days for west ham!

Contrary to some press reports, Manchester United are not about to sign Carlos Tevez from West Ham, they are however considering a loan deal that would cost them £9 Million for one year, the twist in the tail is that Hammers have the first option over any deal, hence Eggert Magnusson's bullish approach. The negative is that Hammers will become unwilling partners to a bidding war that could see the club paying a high price should Fergie decide to 'go large'.. There has been a lot of paper talk suggesting that fellow Argentine International Gabriel Heinze could be the lure that takes Carlitos to Old Trafford, but Heinze is on the transfer list and is unlikely to be at the club for the start of the season.. The truth is that a player of Carlos Tevez's quality will inevitably attract offers of interest from the top clubs, but looking and buying are two different things, it remains to be seen if 'the Apache' starts for Hammers next season, but Eggert Magnusson will obviously push the boat out to retain the fans favourite.. The prospect of Craig Bellamy arriving at the Boleyn still looms large, the jury is out as to whether he would be a good signing or not, if he did sign he would be under no illusions about the extent of the disciplined regime that Alan Curbishley has installed. Bellamy was linked with a move to Aston Villa but the player has insisted he would prefer a move to West Ham over Villa

You have to have a bit of a giggle to yourself, i mean 99% of Hammers fans will tell you that NRC is hopeless etc but all of them sound so bitter when saying it. Wouldnt you be, i mean the captain of your team wants to leave aswell as your best player, Bent didnt want to play for you either. Even your newest signing Faubert (6.1mil) chose Rangers first but his team said West Ham or nothing(because they knew West Ham would pay more presumably) The only reason they managed to stay up is because they "gave" Mascharano to Liverpool, if there were 2 players with illegal registration the league would have had no option but to dock points. But enough about that particular team, i cant believe a year ago things looked so bleak for the Villa now look!! Bring on the good times for the only true Blue & Claret!!

Awww poor old west ham even loseing there star striker now hehe curbs is reallt turining that team into his old charlton middle of the table club hehehe never mind west ham the villa mite even come and take ur keeper robert green the last and only decent player in ur squad

AV33 lmfao was to ur msg about the westham fans i found it quite funny :P hehe

I think you should of kept the money and signed defoe